Female Criminals

With Vanessa Richardson & Sami Nye

About Female Criminals

The true crime podcast where women aren’t just the victims. Every week, we examine the psychology, motivations, and atrocities of female felons. New episodes come out every Wednesday. Female Criminals is a production of Cutler Media and part of the Parcast Network. Ad-free archives of episodes six months or older are now available through Stitcher Premium.

Would you blow up a plane to be a hero? In November, 1987, twenty-five-year-old Kim Hyon-hui was given what would be her last mission as a North Korean spy. She and her partner were told that if they completed it, it would unify South Korea with North Korea. All they had to do was get on an airplane and plant a bomb.

After committing more than 30 kidnappings, murdering 22 high-caste men in the 1981 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, and being placed on India’s Ten Most Wanted list— Phoolan Devi was wanted dead or alive. How did she manage to re-brand herself as a local hero?

Phoolan Devi was born and raised in poverty but nevertheless was a precocious and resilient child. At ten years old, she learned her uncle's family had stolen her father's land, and fought back. It would be her first step to becoming Bandit Queen, a warrior for the lower classes.

Samantha Lewthwaite was just like any other housewife in the world. But while she was carrying on a life as a doting wife and mother, she was also a terrorist accused of planning attacks that have killed over 400 people. Her current whereabouts are unknown and international law enforcement agencies are still looking for The White Widow.

Originally known for being the wife of 2005 London bomber Germaine Lindsay, international authorities have suspected her of running a bomb factory, funding terrorist cells, and being responsible for the 2013 shopping mall attack in Kenya. Discover how she started on a path to radicalism.

Charlotte Corday set out on her journey to kill Jean-Paul Marat believing it was the only way to save France. So what made a young woman with no known political connections and no history of violence turn to murder?

Charlotte Corday grew up poor in French family clinging to its noble status. When the French Revolution started, she strongly believed in peaceful change and liberation, in contrast to the Jacobin party who led the revolution on a platform of violence and executions. What happened to the mild-mannered Corday that led her to murder a leader of the Jacobin party?

Welcome Serial Killer listeners! We hope you enjoy the conclusion of Dorothea Puente crossover special Ad Free!! Be sure to look out for a new Female Criminals episode on Wednesday.

Dorothea Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California. She had perfected a technique of taking in tenants who were on government assistance, murdering them, and then fraudulently cash the checks. All the while, neighbors had no idea that dead bodies were being buried in her backyard.

We have a special guest. Greg from Serial Killers is to joining us to help provide some insight into the madness of Dorothea Puente.

Dorothea Puente didn’t set out to become Sacramento, California’s most notorious female serial killer. But she did have a criminal streak that grew more sinister, culminating in the deaths of almost a dozen residents of the boarding house she ran. How was she able to evade detection from family members and social workers? And how did she get away with her first murder?

Despite payouts from her exotic dance performances and the gifts from her many generous lovers, Mata Hari struggled to finance her lavish lifestyle. So when offers of spywork came from both French and German government officials during World War II, Mata Hari couldn’t say no to the money. It led her down a path of spying, lying, and ultimately, execution. Was Mata Hari World War II’s biggest fall guy, or its biggest counter-espionage triumph?

Mata Hari built her fame on the novel and erotic dances she performed, claiming to have learned them as part of a secretive religious ritual. She’s remembered in part for her pornographic postcard series, as well as a string of wealthy lovers left in her wake. But she’s best known for the way she died: executed as a foreign spy.

After numerous “close-calls” and many deaths, it became hard to ignore the number of emergencies that happened while Nurse Genene Jones was on duty in the pediatric ICU. Even after switching to work in a private practice, a dark cloud of tragedy followed her. Would forensic drug testing technology ever catch up with this Angel of Mercy?

Genene Jones, a pediatric nurse from Texas, is believed to have killed between eleven and forty-six infants and toddlers between 1977 and 1982. Pediatric nurses give care to children, many of whom aren’t able to speak yet. Which is why they perfect targets. Find out what happened in Jones’ childhood that would drive her to murder innocent children.

In an act of filial piety (respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors) and revenge over the murder of her father, Shi Jianqiao executed warlord Sun Chuanfang in a crowded Buddhist hall. The media circus that ensued unleashed a fierce debate over her fate, which would play out in the courts of both law and public opinion. Would she actually get away with murder?

Shi Jianqiao was a notorious Chinese assassin who avenged her father’s death by executing the warlord responsible. Was she a devoted daughter fulfilling her duty after her father’s unjust murder? Or was she an outlaw vigilante who deserved to be punished for her crime?

Ulrike Meinhof was a West German journalist, screenwriter, and mother of two. But the non-violent activist would turn to a life of terrorist bombings and bank robberies. Find out why and what ultimately lead to her capture.

Ulrike Meinhof was a known journalist, pacifist, and anti-war activist in Germany. After complaining of severe headaches for months, she had a brain procedure. After her recovery, her perspective changed. She became a political militant responsible for murders, attempted murders, bank robberies and bombings.

Aileen Wuornos was convicted of killing Johns while working as a sex worker in Florida. During her trial, Wuornos would take the stand in her own defense in an effort to save her life. But it would only take a jury a couple hours to decide her fate.

Aileen Wuornos lived a difficult life as a sex worker along the highways to support herself. She killed seven men but she claims they were all in self-defense. Was Wuornos born a cold-blooded killer or did a difficult childhood mold her into one?

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